Lock-case



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UNITED STATES PATENT QEEICE.

MORRIS L. ORUM, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

LOCK- CASE.

SPECIFICATION formng part of Letters Patent No. 262,977, dated August 22, 1882. npncatitnniednprnae,1882. (No moda.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known `that I, MORRIS L. ORUM, of the city of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Locks; and 1 hereby declare the same to be fully, clearly, and exactly described as follows, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which a lock embodying luy invention is represented in perspective View in Figure 1, and the mortise to receive itin similar view in Fig. 2.

My said invention relates to locks for furniture, such as are used on bureau or desk drawers, the doors ot' wardrobes and washstands, Src. 5 and it has i'or its object to provide a lock ot such shape as to adapt itfor insertion in a mortise of peculiar form, whereby a pair ot' the securing screws or nails is dispensed with, and the case of the lock is held laterally in the mortise by reason of its conformity thereto in shape.

In the drawings, A is the front plate of the lock, and c the top, punched, as usual, from sheet-iron and bent at right angles. The top o isdovetail in shape, the sides o meeting the front at an angle of about sixty degrees.

C is the bolt, and B the cap, secured to the plateA by rivets b b. The side walls,d, of the cap are immediately below theedges of the top plate, c, and are inclined at the same angle. The lower edge of the plate A is curved in the are of a circle the diameter of which coincides with the lower edge of the cap B. Holes c are formed in the plate A for the insertion of screws or nails.

The lock is adapted for insertion in a mortise made by means of a laterally-cutting bit adapted to rout a recess having the same cross-section as the lock on the line m to. The bit is secured to an ,upright shalt, similar to the spindle ot' a variety-melder, and projects above the table a distance equal tothe depth of the mortise. The drawer iront or other article in which tbe lock is to be inserted is then passed over the bit atwise until suitable stops are encountered, which are so arranged as to arrest the motion of the boa-rd when the bit has reached a point as far' from the edge of the board as the center of the circle of which the curve c is a part is from the top of the lock. The wood is then drawn back from the bit and the cutis finished. It is clear that a mortise will have been formed by the operation described, dovetail in cross-section and rounded at the base, and the board. will have been recessed or routed on the face around the mortise to a depth and width equal to the thickness and width ot' the plate A at the sides of the cap B. In a word, the mortise is of the exact shape of the lock, except that the deep part ot' the mortise is rounded at the base, while the lock-cap is square. The intermediate space is utilized for the play of the projecting lower end ot' the bolt and spring, as shown.

To insert the lock it is simply slipped down into place in the mortise and secured against lifting by one or more tacks driven through holes ot. By preference but one hole is made in the plate A. and that lat the base. '.Ihe tacks are merely to prevent the lock from slip'- pin'g out ot' the mortise, and are never called upon to resist strain, as are the attachingscrews of ordinary locks. l

The lock costs no more than an ordinary one of equal quality, and to attach it one tack is used, instead ot' four screws, as usual; but the main advantage is due to the saving o' time and labor in making the mortise, and to the superiority of thetinishedjob, byreason ofthe fact that the lock-plate is countersunk in the wood, instead ot' lying upon its surface. This result has never heretofore been attained, except by hand-ci1iseling, which is a slow and tedious process.

I am aware that locks arranged to dovetail into their mortisesl are not broadly new, and such I do not claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The lock herein described, having a dovetail cap and top plate, and a front plate projecting laterally and below the cap and rounded at the bottom, whereby the lock is adapted for insertion in a mortise formed byalaterallycutting bit, and when in place is sustained by the countersunk front plate, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 21st day of April, 1882.

MORlitIS L. DRUM.

Witnesses J. R. MAssEY, FRANK H. MAssEY. 

